KENNEBUNKPORT — Nothing screams “Christmas in Maine” like Santa on a lobster boat.

Kennebunkport has been dressed up like the set of a holiday movie in time for its annual Christmas Prelude festival. Now in its 43rd year, Prelude brings thousands to the York County town each year for an almost two-week-long celebration in early December. There’s a packed schedule of holiday events, including tree lightings, parades, craft markets, activities for kids, special deals at local businesses and more.

Hundreds gathered for Saint Nick’s arrival on the lobster boat the Nor’Easter on Sunday afternoon, watching from the Mathew Lanigan Bridge and nearby restaurants and shops.

Henry White, 6, from Shapleigh town, gets face paint during the Christmas prelude in Kennebunkport on Sunday. Sofia Aldinio/Portland Press Herald

Santa, Mrs. Claus and a boatload full of elves and giant lobsters passed under the bridge and waved, before making their way up the Kennebunk River to the Nonantum Resort.

Laurel and Reid Martin, of Connecticut, stopped by the Prelude festivities Sunday with their daughter, 3-year-old Leighton, while visiting grandpa Jim Martin in North Berwick. The family said they had been coming to Prelude since at least 2016, but hadn’t made it to the festival in recent years.

“We came and had lunch, and then saw Santa get off the boat and asked him for some (gifts),” Laurel Martin said. “We had a good time.”

Once docked at the Nonantum Marina, Santa and his entourage met families and posed for photos with kids.

Maddie Sawyer, 11, and Grayson Olive Ira, 7, were excited to get high fives from Santa and his lobsters as they greeted kids on the Nonantum lawn.

Stephanie Palmisano, Maddie’s mom, said it was the family’s first time going to the Prelude. She and Maddie, who are from Rhode Island, came with friends from Cumberland.

Maddie Sawyer, 11, and her parents, Stephanie Palmisano and Ben Sawyer, sit next to Santa and Mrs. Claus to take a photo during the Christmas Prelude at the Nonantum Resort in Kennebunkport on Sunday. Sofia Aldinio/Portland Press Herald

After meeting Santa, the group planned on going to the Rococo Dessert Bar, which was hosting a scavenger hunt with Prelude-themed challenges – like snapping a picture with the Christmas tree in Dock Square or enjoying a treat from Rococo – for a chance to win ice cream for a year.

Palmisano said she enjoyed the Hat Parade on Saturday – a Kennebunkport tradition that invites anyone with a hat to march from Dock Square to the Lower Village.

“We didn’t realize how cool the Hat Parade was,” Palmisano said. “We’re going to come back next year and do it, we’re actually going to make an elaborate hat, because it was just so cool to see some of the creativity yesterday.”

Maddie Sawyer said she wrote a letter to Santa asking for a “tennis bag, an art set and a lifetime supply of hot cocoa”– requests she mailed to the North Pole via a special mailbox outside the resort.

Prelude continues through Dec. 15. There’s plenty more to see, including a fireworks display on Friday and a Pooch Parade next Sunday. Santa will make his return by fire engine on the final day of Prelude.